While an Environmental Protection Agency draft risk assessment for a chemical compound used in the production of Teflon did find that exposure could lead to adverse health effects, EPA fell far short of condemning the chemical or its makers. In a draft risk assessment on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical produced by DuPont and used to make the non-stick product Teflon, among other products, EPA has claimed that even low levels of exposure may cause serious adverse health and developmental effects in humans, ranging from increased cholesterol to delays in sexual maturation, while other research suggests even worse consequences such as defects and cancer. The agency did find that PFOA exposure increases levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, which can increase the risk of heart attacks and stroke. Tilted Science An analysis of EPA�s draft risk assessment by the Environmental Working Group found that EPA has rigged the risk assessment in order to make its own brand of regulatory Teflon: producing a scientific record so compromised that it shields DuPont from regulation. According to the EWG, EPA had �ignored its own science panel�s guidance and internal industry research�: In March 2004, the EPA�s Scientific Advisory Panel instructed the EPA that, when assessing the family of chemicals that include [PFOA], the agency had to consider that several types of cancers, including testicular and pancreatic cancers, are relevant to humans. The Agency ignored the panel�s instruction in [the resulting] risk assessment .... Although EPA�s own internal guidelines require that a chemical be considered carcinogenic when it meets any one of five criteria, it dodged the question with the Teflon ingredient � which meets three out of the five criteria, according to EWG. Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group, said, �There�s a big difference between sound science and tilted science, and at every turn in this important process, EPA officials favored DuPont.� A 1950s Innovation with Unforeseen Side Effects PFOA takes years to leave the body and can be found in the environment and animals as far away from factory sources as polar bears in the Artic and dolphins in the Mediterranean. Traces of PFOA have been found in individuals all over the world. Though only trace amounts of PFOA exist in Teflon products when they hit the market, some scientists believe the chemical may be released as Teflon ages. Other scientists have suggested that PFOA, which is also used in stain- and grease-resistant carpets, clothing and fast-food packaging, may be released into water supplies when carpets or clothing are washed. PFOA found in French-fry boxes, microwave popcorn bags, and hamburger wrappers might be absorbed into the food. A Case of Regulatory Failure EPA has now filed suit seeking as much as $300 million in fines from DuPont for withholding important safety information about the chemical. The case highlights a broken environmental regulatory system that relies heavily on industry to police itself. Whereas substances added to food must undergo rigorous testing and review by the Food and Drug Administration, industrial chemicals undergo far less regulation. EPA often must wait for industry to provide information on the adverse health effects of its own products. According to the Chicago Tribune, DuPont has been aware of the potential risk of PFOA since 1961, when company scientists began advising DuPont executives to avoid contact with the chemical. However, the information about the danger of the drug only came out after a couple who lives near the Teflon plant sued the company after the mysterious death of several of their cows. Most of the information about the negative impacts of PFOA was first made public in the court hearings. In the early 1980s, the company discovered that a DuPont employee had passed the chemical on to her fetus. EPA argues in its lawsuit that this case should have prompted independent analysis of the effects of the chemical. EPA has also accused �DuPont of failing to notify the agency when two of five babies born to plant employees in 1981 had eye and face defects similar to those found in newborn rats exposed to PFOA,� according to the Tribune. DuPont will also settle a suit next month for as much as $343 million for PFOA contamination in drinking water in Ohio and West Virginia. According to the Tribune, �DuPont also has known since at least 1984 that water wells in West Virginia and Ohio were contaminated with PFOA, according to company records. But people who rely on the wells for drinking water didn�t find out until 2002, when internal DuPont documents started pouring into court.� Though the company says that it has reduced emissions at the Teflon plant by 90 percent, tests last fall reveal that the level of PFOAs in the Ohio river are the highest to date.